Quick Status Update

I seem to have a group of photos that I took back in mid November.  Today, then, I will give you a post heavy in pictures and light in text (finally!).  These have grown a little since then, but I’ll be taking more pics soon, and I’ll post the interesting ones.

Sansevieria kirkii

My Sansevieria kirkii is finally putting out new growth after nearly a year of doing nothing.  It seems that the previous mix  that it was in contained far too much clay, so it was either bone dry or completely soggy.  I repotted it and found that this had killed all of the roots.  Now in a new mix of much lighter soil and in a transparent plastic container so that I can monitor moisture, it seems to be much happier.  Another pic of this soon, as it has put on some substantial growth since I took the above photo.

Chlorophytum comosum

My spider plant has long suffered through being root bound in a tiny pot.  I did this intentionally, because it kept the plant small.  I recently decided to pot it up a size, and it graciously rewarded me with a stolon.  The photo above shows the beginning of it emerging.  It then proceeded to flower down the length of the stolon/inflorescence with tiny white flowers open one at a time and lasting only one day.  The end of the stolon now has a plantlet developing.

Welwitschia mirabilis

My Welwitschia seedlings are growing up so quickly!  They have just celebrated their first birthday, as of this February.  I’ll do a longer post on their progress soon, including measurements and an overall picture.  This photo is just to show the curious growths that occur between the two leaves.  They look like a pair of aborted leaves.  These will expand and merge, eventually becoming woody and turning into the top of the stem, the “disc” between the leaves.

Bulbophyllum elasoglossum

I don’t have much to say about this picture.  This is a cute miniature Bulbophyllum, but it does tend to ramble and be unruly.  It should probably be mounted, but we’ll see how it does in a pot.  Wish me luck on keeping it wet enough!

Encyclia bractescens

Here is a pic of my remounted E. bractescens.  It wasn’t fairing too well, so I thought I might remount it and see what that does.  Turns out the moisture pad it was on was much too big and wasn’t drying out fast enough.  All of the roots inside the sphagnum had rotted out.  Now it has much less sphagnum and is drying out better, which encyclias really like between waterings.  The new growths are putting out roots, so it finally has a (tiny) root system to absorb moisture through.  I have found that, paradoxically, if you keep plants too wet (especially orchids), the roots will rot out and the plant won’t get enough water and begin to shrivel.  This is what happened with the Sansevieria kirkii, and more recently to my Phsychopsis Mendenhall, and perhaps even my Bulbophyllum frostii (actual diagnosis pending).  Very frustrating, but a learning experience none the less.

Okay, just a handful of photos for you folks.  New photos to arrive soon, as well as a longer post about my plant life in general (you can read “plant life” as a noun, or “plant” as an adjective describing my “life”, either way is acceptable).

Enjoy the photos, happy belated Valentine’s Day, and until next time, happy growing!

The Winter that Never Came

This has been a ridiculous winter, at least here in New York. We’ve consistently been in the 40’s (5C +). Some of the trees have tried to break bud already. A cold nap recently has finally brought us some snow, but hasn’t brought us down much below freezing at all. All in all, it’s been bizarre. This in no way explains my inability to post on here. I am attempting to remedy that right now.

The main reason I’m posting, other than to attempt to get myself back into it, is that I have updated my plant list. There were a few winter casualties, victims of my 3 week winter break absence from my apartment. But there have been many additions as well, largely in the orchid family. I’ve always had a special interest in them, but I have to make sure that I don’t become obsessed to the point of ignoring all other plant families. Check out the list to see what I’m growing at the moment. And mind you, I somehow manage to do this all in a tiny Manhattan apartment with maybe one hour of direct sun per day.

I would promise another (more interesting) update soon, but apparently I’m not very good at keeping promises like that. My main obstacle is getting photographs of my plants to post. The problem is that it’s a hassle. So, I basically have no excuse. I will see what I can do, dear reader.

Until next time, happy growing!